Levi Zililo Mumba (died January 1945) was a leading local politician and the first President of the

Nyasaland African Congress The Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) was an organisation that evolved into a political party in Nyasaland during the colonial period. The NAC was suppressed in 1959, but was succeeded in 1960 by the Malawi Congress Party, which went to on decisiv ...

(NAC) during the period of British colonial rule in

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...

, which became the independent state of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

in 1964. Mumba was probably the most important figure in the development of Malawi politics between

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early years

Levi Mumba was a Ngoni. He spoke the

Tumbuka language The Tumbuka language is a Bantu language which is spoken in the Northern Region of Malawi and Zambia in the districts of Lundazi, Lumezi, and Chasefu.Livingstonia Mission, founded by Scottish missionaries in northern

, which educated several of the early African leaders in the colony. Mumba passed his final examinations at the institute in 1903 with flying colors and was the first to take a commercial course. From March 1905 until 1915 he was the first African teacher of commercial subjects, as well as the bookkeeper of the Institution. He was encouraged to take a more active role in politics by Dr. G. Meredith Sanderson of the colonial medical service, author of ''The Yaos'', a book about the

Yao people The Yao people (its majority branch is also known as Mien; ; vi, người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China and Vietnam. They are one of the 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities in China and reside in ...

Native association leader

Mumba was elected secretary of the North Nyasa Native Association when it was formed in 1912, the first of several such associations of educated "natives". In 1923 the Mwenzo Welfare Association was formed by Mumba's old school-mate, Donald Siwale, with a constitution based on that of the North Nyasa Native Association. Mumba was the architect of many of these associations, which had very similar constitutions. In a 1924 memo, Mumba described the purpose of these associations as to bring better local conditions and to represent public opinion more effectively to the colonial administrators than was done by the chiefs and headmen. In 1924 Mumba expressed the hope that the associations could "assume national importance by amalgamation under a central body". That year, he established a Representative Committee of the Northern Provinces Associations at Zomba, the capital of Nyasaland in the southern province. His brother-in-law Mopho Jere became secretary of the Representative Committee in 1928 and its president some time before 1937. The Representative Committee forwarded complaints to the central government about the behavior of colonial officials, and made requests for government assistance in expanding cash crop farming and the retail trade. Mumba and

James Frederick Sangala James Frederick Sangala was a founding member of the Nyasaland African Congress during the period of British colonial rule. Sangala was given the nickname "Pyagusi", which means "one who perseveres". Sangala was born in a village in the highland ...

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

became the leaders of the Native Association movement in the 1930s. During this period, the white colonists of

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

(now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

) and

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

(now

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

) were pushing for unification, and wanted to include

in the union, seeing Nyasaland as a useful source of labor that might otherwise be drawn to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Nyasas resisted this move since they regarded the Rhodesias as "White Man" territory, and preferred the trusteeship arrangement in Nyasaland under which they had greater rights. As early as 1935, the Blantyre Native Association led by Sangala called a meeting of leaders in the area where they were invited to sign a petition opposing amalgamation. When the colonial administration asked the chiefs for views on unification in 1938, the formal statement in reply was in fact composed by Mumba. Writing on behalf of the Representative Committee in a letter to the Chief Secretary of the colony dated April 1935, Mumba asked why Africans were not allowed a greater role in the celebrations of the King's birthday and in the swearing-in ceremony for the Governor. He said that "...That such an important Government function should ignore or fail to find a place for even its few senior African officers ... including some well-to-do and respectable Africans, who can be of help in explaining the meaning of the occasion to others later, has created the wrong idea that they are not wanted there, and adds to their perplexities". There is a note of elitism here, distinguishing between educated men and the less sophisticated chiefs and headmen. Later, Mumba put the case more simply: "the natives of the country should be taken into the confidence of the government as His Majesty's subject like all others ... the natives are considered as children in these matters, and so they are, but it is as children when they can better be initiated into what is demanded of them when they grow up". On 12 May 1935 he talked with the governor, Sir

Harold Kittermaster Sir Harold Baxter Kittermaster, KCMG, KBE (14 May 1879 – 20 March 1939) was governor of British Somaliland (now Somalia), British Honduras (now Belize), and then of the Nyasaland protectorate (now Malawi) in the period before the Second W ...

, on the subject of the proper method of communication between the government and Africans. He opposed the policy of the time which was to go through the Native Administrations, dominated by conservative chiefs and headmen, and recommended a greater voice for the Associations. He argued that the members of the Associations were in closer touch with the Europeans and better able to express opinions in a comprehensible way. However, the colonial government refused to take the Native Authorities or the Associations and their aspirations seriously before the Second World War.

Nyasaland African Congress leader

The Nyasaland African Congress was the first organization that attempted to work at a national level. At the inaugural meeting of the Congress held in Blantyre in October 1944, Mumba was elected President-General. James Sangala, the other main mover in creating the Congress, had recently been transferred to

Dedza Dedza is the main township of Dedza District in the Central Region of Malawi. Description Dedza is located about 85 km south of Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, off the M1 road to Blantyre at a point where a trans-African highway from Johanne ...

in the Central province and was unable to attend, but was elected to the central committee. As with most members of the Congress, Mumba was privileged to come from a respected family and to have mission education. The leaders of the Congress included pastors and teachers such as Mumba from the earlier Associations, but tended to now also include civil servants, clerks and businessmen. Soon after being elected, in January 1945 Mumba died. He was succeeded by

Charles Matinga Charles Jameson Matinga was a politician in Nyasaland before the colony obtained independence from the British. He was elected President-General of the Nyasaland African Congress in 1945, after the death of Levi Zililo Mumba. In 1950, he was th ...

. Without the leadership of Mumba and of

Isaac Lawrence Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...

, who also died around that time, the congress lost momentum.

Views on religion and education

In 1929, Mumba was associated with formation of the African National Church, which permitted polygamy. Although Christian, Mumba wrote an article titled "The Religion of my Fathers" that defended traditional beliefs from attack by ignorant and prejudiced people. The article appeared in the ''International Review of Missions'' in 1930, submitted by the missionary Cullen Young and attributed only to "a member of one of the Nyasaland tribes". In this essay he emphasized the importance of mediation in the Ngoni culture, where the spirits of ancestors mediated between living people and the deity. When the colonial government proposed making the

Nyanja language Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambique and Zambia. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for l ...

the standard language of schools, on the basis that it was widely spoken in Nyasaland, Mumba opposed the idea as a representative of speakers of the

Tumbuka language The Tumbuka language is a Bantu language which is spoken in the Northern Region of Malawi and Zambia in the districts of Lundazi, Lumezi, and Chasefu.English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, which was more useful. He proposed that if an official language be adopted, it should be English. In 1932, Mumba prepared a memorandum advocating improved higher education for Africans, which was received without enthusiasm. In 1934, Mumba asked the government to pay part of his son's secondary schooling in

in the absence of a local alternative. The government reluctantly provided £13-10-0. The Chief Secretary commented on the incident: "Such cases will continue to be rare for some time to come, fortunately I think, since the slower the progress - in the direction of higher education for the African - the better". However, Mumba was appointed to the Advisory Committee on Education in 1933. He participated in the debate on Colored education in the Advisory Committee in 1934, arguing against free primary education for just one section of the community (the "Coloreds" or so-called half-castes) and arguing in favor of including the whole community. A 1934 memorandum that Mumba prepared on post-primary and higher education was rejected by the Advisory Committee. In a report prepared for the colonial authorities in 1938 he said: "...the training which the African has received hitherto both in schools and through contact with white men whether as semi-skilled or unskilled workers has been aimed at fitting him as a worker for, instead of a worker with, the white man...".

References

Sources * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mumba, Levi Zililo Year of birth missing 1945 deaths Nyasaland African Congress politicians Malawian Christians